TAMPA, Fla. – In recognition of his quick thinking and bravery, Sheriff Chad Chronister will award a garbage truck driver with Waste Connections the Citizen Lifesaving Award on Wednesday, May 12, after the driver rescued a young child from the inside of a garbage compactor truck.
Just before 3:30 p.m. on February 9, 2021, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office received a call from a citizen advising that her 7-year-old grandson was playing, attempting to hide from his family, in a trash can outside of their home on the 100 block of Neving Drive in Tampa.
When the receptacle was scooped up and emptied into the back of a garbage truck, Waste Connections driver Waldo Fidele saw the boy fall from the garbage can into the compactor through a surveillance camera in the front of his truck.
Fidele immediately hit his emergency stop button to prevent the boy from being compacted with the trash.
Due to Fidele’s quick thinking, the boy was uninjured. Hillsborough County Fire Rescue responded, along with HCSO deputies, to assist with removing the boy from the truck with a ladder.
“Had it not been for Waldo Fidele’s quick thinking, a young child could have lost his life that day,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “It’s his heroic actions that prevented a family from experiencing tragedy and allowed a 7-year-old boy to play another day. We are thankful for Mr. Fidele, and this award is a small example of that gratitude.”
The 911 call recording is below:
Note to self: Don’t hide in trash cans.